AUS Cancels Fall Competition

STATEMENT FROM JOHN RICHARD, UNB DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

            For several months now, we have lived in unprecedented and uncertain times. The pandemic, which has gripped the globe, has affected and limited how we all live, work, and play.

            As part of the world’s reaction to COVID-19, UNB closed its campuses, moved instructional programming on-line, and asked almost all staff to work from the safety of their own homes. Our national governing body, U SPORTS, cancelled Canadian championship events, bringing a necessary, but premature end to most winter sport seasons.

            Since then, the focus of U SPORTS, the nation’s four conferences, and our own Reds athletics department, has been on the coming season, scheduled to start in September, 2020.

            I regret that I must tell you today that our conference, Atlantic University Sport, has decided to cancel all competition until January 2021. This decision was made after consulting with Ontario University Athletics, Canada West, RSEQ, and U SPORTS. Canada West and OUA are making similar announcements today, and U SPORTS has cancelled all fall national championships.

            Decisions on winter semester competition will be made in the fall.

            These are, arguably, the most significant decisions ever made in the history of Canadian university sport.

            I’ve been involved in sport for the majority of my life. I came to UNB as a student-athlete in 1991, and have remained here as a coach and an administrator ever since. Never have we seen anything like this.

            Make no mistake, these decisions have not been easy to make. So many sport leaders, both here in the AUS and across the country, have spent many long days and nights working to find the best path for all of us. But, right now, the safety and personal well-being of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, officials, and supporters is our paramount concern.

            The question now is, where does that leave us?

            The Reds immediate focus will be to support our student-athletes, coaches, and staff.

            As we move forward, we will shift our attention to what sport programming and activity will look like in the absence of regular season and championship competition. While there will be no first term competition, we will endeavour to ensure that, wherever and whenever possible, the student-athlete experience continues.

            Working within the parameters established by New Brunswick’s Department of Health, we will establish a plan, in the next few months, so that teams and individuals can train. We will continue to offer academic support for student-athletes, and we will strive to find ways for our student-athletes to engage with the community, something they’ve always done.

            The Reds are more than just teams that represent UNB. We have been and continue to be a great source of pride for the University. We bring attention and recognition from across the country and around the world. We are an integral part of the University’s recruitment and retention program, and we contribute to and serve, on many levels, the community in which we live.

            The decisions made, surely, are disappointing. But, given the situation, they are the only responsible decisions.

            As soon as that situation allows, competition will resume, and the Reds will be ready.